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The present invention pertains to a theft prevention device on a drive installation on a boat. Many drive installations in or on a boat involve either an outboard motor or an inboard motor. A copending application Ser. No. 09/690,882 filed on Oct. 17, 2000, now abandoned, is directed to a theft prevention installation on an inboard motor. It is quite clear to those skilled in the art that the inboard and outboard motor installations are quite different from each other
An outboard motor installation involves a self contained motor that is simply installed on the transom of the board. A clamp is installed over the transom and the clamp has a hinge attached thereto which allows the outboard motor to raised out of the water or lowered into the water for operation. In the past, there has been a problem of thefts of outboard motors simply by removing the attending clamp of the motor from the transom of the boat. The present invention prevents such theft by simply passing a locking bolt through the clamp and the transom whereby the outboard motor cannot be removed from the transom without the use of a key.
The only locking bolt found in the prior art is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,621. The locking bolt in this patent is used on an inboard motor to lock a shield over certain parts that would allow the lower drive of the inboard motor. The theft prevention bolt of this invention is the only item used to prevent the removal of the outboard motor. It is designed so that the bolt cannot be destroyed unless excessive force is applied.